NASA Says It Was Okay for Mike Pence to Touch That Thing

And the vice president is making a meme. What a time to be alive.

If our nation’s top politicians don’t need to follow rules, then why should the rest of us? Vice President Mike Pence flagrantly ignored a prominent sign that said “do not touch” while visiting NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Thursday, and he reached out and palmed a section of the agency’s new mega-rocket, the Space Launch System. Now, though, NASA says it’s okay that he flouted the rules and touched the part.

My friends, this abuse of power is an injustice.

“It was OK to touch the surface,” NASA tweeted on Friday afternoon. “Those are just day-to-day reminder signs. We were going to clean it anyway. It was an honor to host you!”

Pence touching the part caused a big commotion because he was in the Kennedy Space Center’s Orion clean room. Despite the name, it’s not the most sterile room NASA has to offer (other areas are cleaner than hospital surgery rooms), but still. It’s a clean room, and the veep rubbed his gammy paws all over the thing without consequence.

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It was OK to touch the surface. Those are just day-to-day reminder signs. We were going to clean it anyway. It was an honor to host you! https://t.co/gu8zxknsJv

Earlier in the afternoon, Vice President Pence pulled a classic politician move and attempted to pass the buck. In a tweet, Pence claimed that Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who accompanied Pence on the tour, dared him to do it.